March Read: What Have You Done? by Shari Lapena

 

I've read a few Shari Lapena novels and they always keep me dangling until the last few pages.   This novel, her latest (on sale July 30), kept me completely engaged and unable to put it down. 

The small town of Fairhill, Vermont is a place where you leave your house unlocked and there's never any crime. Until one early morning when a farmer, driving his tractor into one of his fields, discovers a horrible scene: a naked young woman-dead, lying in the field. 

That dead young woman is Diana Brewer, a senior at the local high school. Her single mother works the night shift as a nurse in the next town over, and Diana spends nights alone at their home. Word quickly spreads, and the first suspect is Diana's boyfriend, Cameron. What were they doing together the night before, and why does Cameron lie? Diana's best friends Riley and Evan are devastated Diana's dead--and murdered. The town quickly become filled with a whole lot of people who have secrets to keep; secrets which point at many of them as potential suspects. Will they lie to protect themselves, or fess up and help uncover Diana's killer?

Shari Lapena usually writes thrillers that involve couples, and this was a bit different from her usual in that it centers around a murdered high school student. As police investigate, there's plenty of people who have things to hide that may tie directly to Diana's death, or may have contributed to her murder. It was hard to tell who would be revealed, and the reveal at the end is a bit of a twist that you may or may not see coming. Another twist is that Diana's spirit is "hanging around", and she's confused as to what happened. She has big gaps in her memory, and is slowly understanding she's dead and that someone killed her. Her flashbacks also give a bit of a red herring aspect to the plot because what she remembers may not necessarily be accurate. Plus, she's dead! 

Definitely one theme in this thriller is the endless harassment and sexualization young girls have to endure, even in a small town. Being called a liar, or not being believed at all, are things Diana has to endure. People always going out of their way to protect themselves instead of standing up for truth. 

If you're a Shari Lapena fan, this won't disappoint. If you're new to her novels, and you like thrillers--Heather Gudenkauf fans I'm talking to you--grab this novel for you summer read when it arrives in stores and libraries July 30th. 

A HUGE thank you to Pamela Dorman Books/Viking for a chance to read this thriller a few months before publication. 

Rating: 5/6 for a thriller that keeps you on your toes guessing who the guilty party is--and also, the effect of murder on a small town and how it completely changes the lives of those left behind. 

Available July 30th in the U.S. in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

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March Read: What Have You Done? by Shari Lapena

January Read: The Villa by Rachel Hawkins

 

I don't know why this cover sucked me in, but it may be because of my love of lemons. 

However, once I started the book, I quickly left the lemons behind and dove into this tale of two best friends, two different eras, and a villa that holds a few dark secrets.

Villa Aestas in Orvieto, Italy is a beautiful, isolated place where the sun shines and nothing could possibly go wrong. Emily and Chess are two friends who grew up together. Both are authors; Emily writes cozy mysteries, and Chess is a self-help superstar. Careers and time have kept them apart over the years, until a quick get together in their hometown over coffee. Next thing Emily knows, Chess is inviting her to a six-week vacation at Villa Aestas to give Emily time to finish her latest mystery (already past deadline). Hard to say no to that, so Emily travels to Italy and soon falls under the spell of the Villa and the rekindling of her friendship with Chess. 

The Villa is infamous for what happened there in the summer of 1974, when a group of people stayed, and one person ended up murdered. Out of that summer at the Villa, a classic horror novel was produced, and one of the top bestselling albums of all time was written. Stepsisters and best friends Lara and Mari have traveled to the Villa with Mari's boyfriend Pierce at the invite of famous rockstar Noel Gordon. Mari is hopeful this will be the breakthrough Pierce has been waiting for, and their money problems will be over. Lara hopes to be more than just a fling for Noel. Johnny is there, too, providing Noel with whatever drugs he needs. It's the seventies; sex and drugs and living day to day were a way of life for this group. 

But over the course of the summer, things start to change. Mari begins writing a story she can't get out of her head. It's pretty dark. Dynamics change; tensions rise, and one stormy night a murder takes place that leaves a wake of destruction for years to come. 

Present day; Chess and Emily relax, drink wine, and soak in the sun. Emily finds a copy of Lilith Rising, Mari's one novel that became a gigantic hit. As she reads it, she begins to become inspired to look into that summer of 1974, and the murder. Emily's passion for writing is reinvigorated, and she's writing again, but not her cozy mystery. And Chess wants in on the potential of this new book. Should Emily trust Chess?

There are twists and turns all throughout the novel, but the one big twist is at the end. It took me a hot minute to realize what I had just read, then to unravel it all in my mind. Pretty darn clever. 

I read the author was inspired by the summer Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron that birthed her famous novel Frankenstein. It's quite a mix of music, literature, love, entangled relationships, and terrible choices. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this suspenseful novel. Read this first, then go back and read about Mary and Percy Shelley. Talk about a soap opera of a relationship! But you can definitely see where Rachel Hawkins was inspired to write this novel. 

Rating: 4/6 for a suspenseful novel that has two compelling stories-although the 1974 story of Mari, Lara, Noel, and Pierce is the better of the two. I did like the connections made between the two time periods at the Villa, and the twists, all the way up to the end. 

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook. 

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January Read: The Villa by Rachel Hawkins

The Guilt Trip by Sandie Jones

 

This book wasn't on my TBR list at all, but as I was cataloging at my library it came across my desk and I thought it looked like a good domestic thriller and a quick read. Boom! Perfect summer read.

This novel takes place in Portugal and involves five friends: Jack and Rachel, Noah and Paige, and Will. Jack and Will are brothers, and they are all gathered to celebrate the wedding of Will and Ali--who really irritates the hell out of everyone but Will. She's bubbly, wears clothing that really accentuates her curves, and is an attention seeker. Will's gaga over her, but no one else really cares for her. Especially Jack. He appears to loathe her--but you're just not sure why. 

The story is told from Rachel's point of view. She's happily married to Jack, and they have a 19 year old son. Rachel and Noah were college friends--and secretly slept together just once, confessing their love for each other. It ended with Noah begging Rachel to leave her then new relationship with Jack and come away with him. She refused. Now, twenty years later, they are both married to different people, but that love is still there. That's just one of the things that will bubble over in Portugal. 

As the wedding day draws near, Rachel becomes convinced Ali and Jack are having an affair. What should she do? Confront both of them? How can she let Ali marry Will? Then Ali overhears some pretty explosive stuff between Noah and Rachel, and oh crap what if she tells Jack and Paige? Paige, Rachel's best friend. 

Rachel's thoughts are swirling around and around, and oh boy there is a lot at stake. Wedding day dawns and it will all come crashing down--and not in the way you expect. Not at all. 

This was a quick read, but it wasn't an edge of your seat kind of read. A lot of the novel is spent in Rachel's thoughts and guesses about what is going on. The end kind of fell flat for me. 

Rating: 3/6 for a novel that had some great potential, but just didn't quite make it. Fans of domestic thrillers will want to read this--it's an interesting read about friendship, marriage, past secrets, and making assumptions that prove to be deadly and just plain wrong. 

Available in hardcover ebook, and audio.

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The Guilt Trip by Sandie Jones